You might not notice, what with governors going off to tango between the sheets, the health care debate rising toward a roar, protests taking place overseas, the economy still doing loop-de-loops, and a press corps that (after 8 years of scratching their heads) has looked up the definition of "follow-up question," but this was a big week for news about mountaintop removal mining. And it's not over yet.
This afternoon the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works holds hearings on the impact of mountaintop removal mining. These are the first hearings on mountaintop removal in decades. This is a huge step forward on this issue, and it comes at a critical point. Bills to halt mountaintop removal have been introduced in the House and in the Senate.
It would be nice to think this wasn't necessary, but the Obama administration has taken the position that they will give MTR operations "more scrutiny" rather than ending the practice. To finally put a stake through this national vampire it's going to take legislation, and oversight from the Obama administration that keeps the new rules from becoming as diluted as previous rules.
On the Senate side, the bill to end MTR is called the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696). It was introduced by Senator Ben Cardin, who is the chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee.
"Mountaintop mining is one of the most destructive practices that already has destroyed some of America's most beautiful and ecologically significant regions. The decision by the Obama Administration to limit the practice through a stronger review of mountaintop mining permit applications is an important step in the right direction. However, it does not halt this incredibly destructive form of mining. We must put an end to this mining method that has buried more than a thousand miles of streams." -- Ben Cardin
The cosponsor or the bill is also on the committee -- Senator Lamar Alexander. Senator Alexander's support, both as a Republican and as a Senator from a state threatened by MTR, has been critical in getting the bill this far.
"The administration's decision will bring tighter scrutiny, but it is still important to pass the Cardin-Alexander legislation that would prohibit blowing off the tops of mountains and putting the waste in our streams. Coal is an essential part of our energy future, but it is not necessary to destroy our environment in order to have enough of it. Millions of tourists spend tens of millions of dollars in Tennessee every year enjoying the natural beauty of our mountains, and that creates thousands of jobs." -- Lamar Alexander
Yes, that's a statement from a Republican Senator, provided right there on the front page of Daily Kos, with a solid dash of "good on ya, Senator."
What happens at this hearing could well determine whether the House and Senate bills emerge from committee quickly and head for the president's desk, or whether they languish... as other attempts to stop MTR in the past have done.
The hearings start at 3:30PM, and are (so far as I can tell) not featured on CSpan, but can be viewed live on this site. If you're a Twitter participant, you can follow discussion of the hearing by looking for the tag #stopmtr.
But I want you to do more than watch, I want you to Help Bring Obama To the Mountaintop. This Sunday I'm making a call for President Obama to take a single day, get in a car, and drive just five hours out of Washington DC to see the destruction of Mountaintop Removal Mining first hand. Please join me after the break...
This Sunday my essay for the front page will have just one theme:
Mr. President, come to Appalachia and see for yourself. |
But to make this actually happen, your help is desperately needed. With all the issues vying for the president's attention, getting him to take a day to see what mountaintop removal mining is really like won't be easy. Even though this ongoing disaster is happening just outside the nation's capitol, it's been happening so long now that we've accepted blasting ancient mountains to rubble, destroying communities and ecosystems, and flooding rivers with millions of gallons of black goo as "normal."
If you have your own blog...
Please consider a post this Sunday on the topic of mountaintop removal. I'm not asking that you copy my post. I'm well aware that many people labor to stop this tragedy every day. I'm far from the expert. But whether you've been "boots on the ground" for this issue, or completely on the sidelines, please consider writing a post for this weekend. If you're lacking for material, check out I Love Mountains, Appalachian Voices, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club's MTR Permit tracker, West Virginia Blue, and the many other sites who follow this issue and have astounding statistics, stories, and photos. Approach it from any angle, but please include a request that President Obama come and see for himself. If you want to link or copy my post from that day, feel free to do so, but consider it a last resort. I don't want to be at the center of this, just a part of it. (But do send me a link to your post -- I'll be happy to point it out)
If you blog by posting diaries...
Whether that's on Daily Kos or elsewhere, please consider using your "daily ration" of diary space on Sunday to address this issue. If you only diary at Daily Kos, you're clearly good people, but think of this as an invitation to share your wisdom on another site. I know that MTR might not be the most important item on your agenda. Make it important, if only for a single day. If you come into a site and see that there are many diaries on the subject already -- that's good! Join the party, or spread the wealth by taking your MTR-related post to another site. And remember to include the demand that President Obama come to Appalachia and see for himself.
If you have a Twitter account...
Please send a tweet on Sunday along these lines...
President Obama. Go to West Virginia. See for yourself what Mountaintop Removal is doing to the land, water, and people. #mtr
Reword that any way you want... so long as it gets across the idea that President Obama needs to come to Appalachia and see for himself.
If you use Facebook or other social media...
Make a post to your wall this Sunday on the subject of MTR. You can use the text of the tweet above, or come up with something completely original... just get across the idea that President Obama needs to come to Appalachia and see for himself.
Thanks. My post will be on the front page at 11 EST on Sunday. I'll be looking for yours.
The always eager folks at the Rainforest Action Network have already developed a Help President Obama See the Truth About Mountaintop Removal page from which you can use their tools to send an email to the White House. If you want to get a jump on this Sunday, hit the link above and give it a try.